EXIM Thailand Joins Hands with RSPO to Uplift Thailand's Palm Oil Industry toward Sustainability with Competitiveness on Global Trade Front amid Increasingly Strict Environmental and Human Rights Rules

Mr. Bundit Sapianchai, Director and Acting President of Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand), revealed that EXIM Thailand and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) have jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to drive sustainability of Thailand's palm oil industry and support Thai entrepreneurs' boosting of their business operations toward international standards with competitive advantage on the global markets. EXIM Thailand in the capacity as a state-owned specialized financial institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance with a mission to propel trade and investment conducive to national development and RSPO as an international body that develops responsible palm oil standards mutually support the traceability system involving such principles as deforestation-free products, reduction of biodiversity loss, and human rights enhancement of the country's palm oil industry. Under this collaboration, both parties will jointly develop innovative financial solutions to facilitate and strengthen the implementation of the traceability system, with the aims to enhance reliability of Thailand's farm products, increase economic value, and broaden opportunities for expansion to global trade markets, particularly those with rigid rules on the environment and human rights, as well as raising long-term competitiveness of Thailand's agricultural industry.

This collaboration seeks to accelerate development of palm oil industry, a key Thai economic sector, toward global sustainability standards, create job opportunities, and generate both farming and manufacturing income from upstream to downstream, covering cultivation, harvesting, processing and exporting of products, in the backdrop of global trade and economic uncertainties. Business sectors are inevitably prompted by such circumstances to operate their businesses with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns taken into account in order to best respond to consumer needs and environment-related trade measures in the global markets of the new era.

"Adaptation toward sustainability will allow Thai entrepreneurs' access to fresh opportunities which are still ample in the new global trade arena despite restrictions from various trade rules and trade barrier measures which have increased significantly. EXIM Thailand has thus teamed up with RSPO in an expanded cooperation between a Thai public sector and an international organization under the ISEAL alliance framework that supports sustainability standards in industrial sectors and promotes a transparent and responsible economic ecosystem in line with global trade trends with rising sustainability concerns," said Mr. Bundit.

Mr. Ittipol Lertsakthanakul, Senior Executive Vice President of EXIM Thailand, also joined a talk session for RSPO members on a topic titled "Co-Responsibility-Empowering Thai Palm Oil Industry on the Global Front," in the capacity as a representative from the financial sector to promote sustainability of Thailand's palm oil industry and develop guidelines for fostering co-responsibility to enable sustainability throughout the supply chain, and was welcomed by Mr. Muhammad Shazaley, RSPO's Head of Certification, at Sivatel Bangkok Hotel on April 30, 2025.

EXIM Thailand Joins Hands with RSPO to Uplift Thailand's Palm Oil Industry toward Sustainability with Competitiveness on Global Trade Front amid Increasingly Strict Environmental and Human Rights Rules

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